Bottle Up and Explode
by arcadie
Summary: Chp3-This was the year that everything changed. The Ducks fall apart as members deals with hazing, racism, and pressure. These are definitely not the Ducks you grew up with. [Eden Hall era]
1. Default Chapter

_Disclaimer_: I don't own the Mighty Ducks and the title is the name of a song by Elliot Smith.

EDIT: I realize that the title is similar to _Bottled Up_ and that is completely unintentional (actually, doubt that anyone cares but still...)

_Author's Note_: While I had originally set this as being a companion piece to _Cowboy Lost_, it seems to have taken off on its own. This is set a bit before _Cowboy Lost _and is in the same sort of universe as _Cowboy Lost_, and _Finding the Cat_. I hope the changing from first person to different third person views won't be too confusing; this will be a sort of experimentation for me with writing and it _might_ be hard to follow, then again, maybe it won't be. The opening monologue is from Dwayne's point of view.

EDIT: I'm sorry for the frequent minor changes. Obviously this story was too rough around the edges to post at the time that I did but oh well. I apologize; I learn from my mistakes, heh.

**::Bottle Up and Explode::**

You know, it's kind of funny how much you notice when you're invisible. You just pick up on little vibes that people unknowingly give off. When you're quiet, you pick up on discrepancies, like when you're a little kid and you wade into a lake and you sit there as still as a five year old can and then suddenly someone comes along and the surface of the water fractures and breaks. And the other person doesn't even notice they made a difference.

See, people think that when things fall apart, it happens like that. It just happens right at that moment they realize it. If they took a minute to just take a step back they would realize that when things break down, when things change, it's an ongoing thing. It starts long before anyone really notices and it keeps going after everyone ceases to care.

And when you go unnoticed like me, you start to catch these sort of things a lot faster than everyone else. That's why when we all sat down on the green grass of the quad, after our formal introduction to the school Eden Hall, I knew this year was going to be different. Harder. Everyone talked strangely, in voices that held a different quality than normal, and the breath in the air seemed more precious, more nervous. They were either overly rambunctious or taciturn.

And no one seemed to notice it but me.

* * *

Dwayne slipped into his seat in English class, behind Adam who was already there. Julie was seated next to the blonde boy, searching her bags with a disgruntled air. 

"What are you looking for?" Adam asked. Julie muttered something and Adam went back to scribbling in his worn notebook, as usual. Dwayne wondered what Adam wrote in that notebook nearly every day but never really thought to ask. He reached into his backpack to pull out a worn book and started to read when he heard Julie swear. The sharp words seemed foreign on her tongue.

"I lost my homework," she finally announced. Dwayne frowned; this wasn't like Julie at all, who was possibly the most organized person he had ever met, perhaps bordering a little on OCD. Kenny walked through the door, a full ten minutes later than any of the other Ducks, but still a good fifteen minutes before class.

"Lost it?" Adam echoed. "Is it in your room?"

"I swear to God I put it in my bag," she grumbled to herself, and searched through it again. She was pointedly ignoring Adam and Adam, being just who he is, was still trying to be helpful.

It didn't escape Dwayne's notice that Adam looked like he desperately wished that these seating arrangements could be changed since they chose their seats before he was bumped up to Varsity. By the looks of it, Adam looked as though he would rather be sitting alone on the other side of the room if it meant to avoid Julie and her uncharacteristic grouchiness.

Ken tried to hand Julie his homework.

"Stop it, Ken, I'm not going to copy your answers," she snapped.

"It's just a one time thing and you actually did the homework," Ken pointed out. "I saw you do it in study hall. Come on."

"No, it's not right. I read the assignment and everything." Adam looked up from his writing and eyed Julie cautiously.

"Ken's right," he said. "You did the assignment. Work on what you can now and copy whatever you can't finish." Julie glared at him but pulled out a clean piece of notebook paper anyway. Dwayne wondered why she was so frazzled when she was normally one of the most easygoing of the Ducks.

And when the bell rang and the majority of the students had filed in and taken out their homework or promptly set their heads on the table and started to fall back asleep, Julie finished up the last sentence and passed Ken back his homework. The teacher came in and as she collected the homework, Julie's knuckles turned white momentarily as she seemed to struggle with an internal moral decision, unable to let go of the piece of paper. In the end, her hand let go of her homework and the teacher collected and moved on, apparently unaware of her student's strange behavior.

Dwayne watched as Adam gave Julie one last sidelong glance and then directed his attention to the class. It wasn't just his imagination; Dwayne felt for sure that fissures were being created in relationships and the cracks were only beginning to spread.

* * *

The minute she woke up, Julie knew it was going to be a tough day. The sun was shining directly in her eyes and her alarm was still going off right next to her ear. She picked it up and chucked it against the wall and pulled the covers back over her head and started to drift off to sleep. 

And then she remembered it was Monday.

"Crap," she muttered, and rolled out of bed and tripped over the cordless phone on the ground. She kicked it away, remembering her phone call with her mom the night before. Would her mom ever get off her back? Probably not.

Julie grabbed her messenger bag and stuffed it with her notebooks, not noticing that her assignment was still sitting on her desk, and grabbed an energy bar. She paused at the sorry excuse for a sink in her dorm room and brushed her teeth and splashed water on her face and was out the door in less than ten minutes.

The whole time she walked to class, her conversation with her mom was playing and replaying in her head. She shrugged it off. It could be worse. She could be not getting along with _both _her parents. Her dad told her not to worry about it; he told her that her mom was just in one of her moods again. Fuck her moods; they were pissing Julie off. She was more tolerant of her mom when she was younger. The older she got, the more easily she was annoyed and her mom found that a severe psychological problem. Every time she talked to her mom, she was left with a bad mood for a week and a strange, sour taste in her mouth. Julie accepted the fact that she just didn't get along with her mom but it still kind of hurt yelling and fighting with her.

She slid into her seat, ignoring Adam sitting next to her, her irritation rising already. Couldn't he stop acting so damn oblivious and just sit on the other side of the room already? It's not like the teacher was going to have an aneurysm if _one_ student moved from their assigned seat. It wasn't the fact that he was on Varsity that really irked her. Okay, fine, that had a big part of it, but she would have been more than willing to make an exception for her favorite cake-eater. But she saw what happened, what Adam had done, or more specifically, what he _hadn'_t done. What Adam didn't know was that she was there, just at the top of the stairs, that time he walked away when Cole and Riley were threatening Averman and advancing to hurt him physically.

What a wimp. What a fucking backstabbing _traitor_. He was on Varsity. Cole and Riley would have hardly hurt one of their players. Instead, he didn't want to risk his own skin and he just walked away, his eyes trained on the ground. And she saw everything. As far as she was concerned, Adam turned his back on the Ducks and renounced his membership as one of the group.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her notebook and flipped through it, her stomach suddenly dropping.

"Shit," she muttered. Did she, in her haste, forget to grab her assignment? "Crap."

"What are you looking for?" Julie didn't even glance at the other boy as she dug through her other notebooks. Finally, when it was clear that her assignment wasn't going to magically appear, she announced, "I lost my homework." The day just went from bad to worse.

* * *

Adam was writing and doodling in his notebook that served as a journal. He was doodling a little more than writing, however, since it kind of unnerved him how there were people, albeit his _friends_, sitting around him. His pen stopped moving momentarily then starting twirling around his fingers again. It was obvious that Julie was furious with him for one reason or another but the only thing that was really occupying his mind was what had happened the night earlier. _Hazing_ they called it. What a simple, innocuous word. It was too early in the day for Adam to drudge up the actual memory of what happened. 

Well, he should have seen this coming, right? The only freshman on a Varsity team, he should have sniffed this out from a mile away. But he was too pulled up in the euphoria of being good enough for Varsity and apprehension of leaving the Ducks to even stop and consider what the Varsity players would be like. Adam sighed audibly, a little annoyed with himself. Maybe he should talk to his dad tonight and ask him if it would be okay if he moved back to the Ducks. It wasn't like his dad would forcefully keep him on the team but he'd still do it. He'd still get Adam to stay on Varsity, through different ways. He was particularly skilled at guilt tripping Adam.

Maybe he should stay on Varsity. He might be able to do something to get the Varsity to leave the Ducks alone. Maybe he could stop Cole from perpetually stealing Ken's lunch every day and pushing Averman around. Adam sighed again. He didn't want to think about it; he didn't want to think about the look on Averman's face when he backed away. And he definitely didn't want to think about what Averman's expression might have been when his former friend actually turned his back on him and completely walked away.

He wanted to do something but only minutes earlier Riley had been quick to enforce his opinions on what he thought of Adam sticking up for the Ducks.

"_They're still part of Eden Hall," Adam argued, when Riley laughed with some of his friends about the latest harassment he had imposed on the Ducks. Riley turned around to face the shorter boy._

"_No, they're still trash. They're filthy, fucking trash." Adam scowled and got up to leave when Riley grabbed his shoulder and forced him back down._

"_Did I say you were excused?" he had said, in that obnoxious, condescending voice. Adam gritted his teeth. _

"_From now on, you listen to me and only me, okay? You better stay away from those Ducks and if I hear you defend them one more time, you'll have hell to pay, Banksie."_

"_Fuck you." He stood up again and this time Riley slammed his hand back down on his shoulder and Adam was pushed against the back of his chair forcefully, momentarily knocking the wind out of his chest. He scowled and tried to ignore his smarting shoulder._

"_Jesus, Riley, don't kill the boy. He's still only a freshmen," one of the girls said._

"_That's what hazing's all about," Riley said, turning around and smiling brilliantly._

Fine, so maybe those threats shouldn't have stopped him from helping Averman. He was such a coward it made him sick. Maybe he could change things now; he still had a chance, right? He thought what happened last night, another one of Riley's "hazing" ideas, had decided him that he was going to leave Varsity, but now he wasn't so sure again. A real Duck wouldn't mind playing sacrificial lamb if it meant that the rest of the team was assured safety, right?

Adam sighed one more time. He wasn't sure what to do now. _Sorry Averman_, he thought. _I'll do better next time, I promise._

* * *

A/N: Hope that wasn't too slow of a start. Hope you enjoyed. 


	2. Wandering in a Box

_Standing Disclaimer_: I don't own.

_Author's Note_: I'm still not too sure whether I want to follow the movie verse or not. It's just more fun to deal with their social problems but I'm sure I'll fit hockey in there soon. Rated for swearing and issues that they deal/will deal with. I'll up the rating if anyone has a problem with it.

**:: Bottle Up and Explode ::**

**:: Chapter Two ::**

Kenny walked out of class feeling disoriented and a little lost. He _hated_ new schools. He hated everything about it, making new friends, finding classrooms, adjusting to new school systems, just everything. He moved to Eden Hall because he thought it would give him a better chance at getting into a nice school and he already had friends there, the Ducks. How bad could it be?

Unfortunately, as he walked out of English class, he seemed to have lost track of Dwayne, Julie, who was oddly irritable, and Adam. He sighed and checked his schedule. They were nearing the end of the first week and Kenny knew from past experience that it would take him at least another week to feel somewhat comfortable in this setting. He doubted that he could ever feel completely comfortable in the uptight, pompous air that he was completely not suited for.

He found his locker and stuffed his English book back in there and pulled out his geometry textbook. His math class would be on the…Kenny checked his schedule. Second floor. And he now officially wasted seven minutes of his ten minute break in between classes deep in thought. Zipping up his backpack, he absently turned around to run smack into a big goon of a Varsity player.

"Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" he said. Kenny raised his hands.

"Sorry," he said. He was a pacifist when it came to most things. Almost nothing could get him to resort to violence.

"Stupid chink," the Varsity player muttered as he walked away. Except that. Kenny was about to launch himself at the asshole when he felt himself getting pulled back.

"Whoa there, junior, what do you think you're doing?" It was Russ, looking at him with amusement and bewilderment.

"Nothing," he said, wrestling out of Russ' hold. "I'll see you at lunch." He left Russ standing there looking kind of confused but at the moment, Kenny was _really_ not in the mood to confide to his friend about what just happened. What _was_ he doing? What was he doing _here_ at Eden Hall, to be more specific.

"Fuck if I know," Kenny muttered.

* * *

Averman was trying not to limp to class as he rubbed the bruise on his upper leg. It felt like his old leg had gone dead. It was like when Peter used to give him dead arms when he was ten, except ten times worse and it was his leg. He walked to his American history class thanking whoever was listening to his prayers that he wasn't smart enough to be in the AP history class which meant he wouldn't have to face Banks.

He swore silently when he saw Connie, Guy, and Charlie already sitting there, however.

"Hey Averman," Connie said, waving him over. Averman sat down, not noticing the fact that Charlie was uncharacteristically cross, glaring at the front board. Guy's face was expressionless as he stared out the window, apparently deep in thought.

"What's the matter, Guy?" Connie asked, gently pulling on Guy's arm. Guy quickly pulled his arm from her grip.

"Nothing," he said, with a slight, strained smile. Averman finally noticed Charlie's expression.

"Trying to turn something into stone?" he quipped. "'Cause if you want, all you have to do is look at them. Your face alone is enough to scare anyone." Connie chuckled half-heartedly.

"Shut up, Averman," Charlie snapped. Averman leaned back, eyes slightly wide behind his thick glasses. It was the Averman sign of a peace offering.

"What's your problem, Charlie, it was just a joke," Guy said. Averman looked at his friend in surprise. Guy was usually one of the most easy-going guys but he sounded down right pissed off. Charlie glowered at the other boy and Connie placed a hand on Guy to stop him from snapping again at Charlie.

"You don't have to get so offended," she finally said, to Charlie. There was a little, confused frown on her face as well.

"You guys don't even know _half_ the things I'm going through," their captain growled, and shifted his gaze to the open door where they saw students filing back and forth in the hallways. A slightly worn-out looking Banks passed by, causing Charlie to stiffen so much that you could have ironed a shirt on his back. Averman turned away and tried to reach for his book bag but as he did so, it slid from the desk and corner of the heavy textbook pierced him on the bruised thigh.

"Shit!" he cried. He stood up, rubbing at his leg and several kids in the class looked up to see what the commotion was about.

"Jesus, Averman, it was just a book," Charlie grumbled. He was gripping the edges of his desk so hard that his knuckles were turning white. Even people who hardly knew Charlie were looking at him with confusion. What had set him off edge so bad? That was when Averman decided he just couldn't stand being in that classroom. It was too claustrophobic and he kind of felt dizzy from the pain that was throbbing in his thigh.

"You know what, I'll catch you guys at lunch," he said, and slung his backpack over his shoulder and managed to walk away without catching the concerned looks from Connie and Guy.

"Geez, Charlie, that was real nice," Guy said, sarcastically.

"Fuck off," Charlie snapped, angrily. And everyone else in the class tried to resume whatever they were doing before but they found that it was quite impossible with the tension that was hanging so heavy in the air.

* * *

Fulton closed his eyes as he took a hit from his joint. He couldn't deal with this tight-ass school without being under _some_ kind of influence. He'd go to class when he was good and mellow. Fulton chuckled to himself about his cleverness of posting an "out of order" sign on the door of the second floor bathroom, the one that was at the end of the left wing, next to the music room. No one used this bathroom anyway; they wouldn't think twice of it. Fulton propped himself up on the sink and leaned against the mirrors.

He should have bailed the second he found out Portman did. This school wasn't for him. He wasn't even going to play hockey for his whole life. At least, that's what he thought. He never really _thought_ of it, but then again, he never really thinks about anything. Fulton wondered how long this would go on before he got caught; how long it would be before someone realized there was a teenager trying to act badass who was lighting up in the bathrooms every day.

"Morons," he said, laughing to himself. As the last of the joint burned out, he felt in his pocket for more and produced nothing but two rolling papers. Grunting in frustration, he took one last, long hit from the failing joint. Then he heard the door open.

Fulton jumped scrambled to his feet until he realized that it wasn't a faculty member. It was just some snot-nosed kid who didn't look too surprised that Fulton was there.

"What you want?" he said. His voice sounded kind of gravelly so he cleared his throat as he settled back on top of the sink. He felt the ceramic shift slightly under his weight.

"I heard you…deal?" The kid's voice was high-pitched and Fulton chuckled to himself again. Kid probably hasn't even hit puberty.

"Look kid, I don't deal to rich, upper-class assholes okay?" The boy's face seemed to fall but he wasn't going to stick around, even if he _was_ disappointed.

"Tell your friends that too," Fulton called, because undoubtedly the kid had a group of his friends waiting in nervous anticipation right outside.

"Assholes," Fulton muttered, as he tossed his extinguished joint into the garbage. He poked at the bags under his eyes, sprayed some cologne to disguise the smell of smoke, and walked out the bathroom feeling very mellow indeed.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so I like messed up Ducks, so sue me. 


	3. Smile like Nothing's Wrong

_Author's Note_: Some parts of this chapter are purposefully vague and unanswered. Trust me, all will be revealed in due time, heh. Thank you so much for understanding, _Queen of the Cake-Eaters_. Trust me, when I realized the title was similar to one of yours, I tried to think of a new one but my brain likes to shut down on me in the most inopportune moments.

**:: Bottle Up and Explode ::**

**:: Chapter Three: Smile like Nothing's Wrong ::**

"I _said_ to leave the Ducks alone," Adam said. Riley drew up close trying to appear menacing. Adam felt his hands ball up into fists. He had a sudden flash of morbidity, like, _God, this is so lame_. And, to be honest, it really was. Dealing with Riley was just one big pissing contest to see who was stronger. Just as he had suspected, Riley advanced with his own fists up.

Adam swallowed a groan as he felt his back hit the row of lockers. He ducked his head and rammed his fists into Riley's stomach. The taller boy doubled over and overbalanced, falling on his back. He looked momentarily winded. Adam stood there briefly, considering maybe throwing in a couple more punches for his own satisfaction really since Riley's retaliation would be worse that way. Before he could really decide, a new voice interrupted them.

"What is going on here?" a teacher demanded, sticking her head out from the classroom.

"Are you…are you two _fighting_?" she said, in disbelief. "Well I've never…"

"No, not fighting," Riley said, rising to his feet. "We were just playing around and we tripped. And fell." The teacher's face was laced with disbelief but nodded.

"Well alright but be more careful next time." Her gaze turned on Adam and she frowned.

"You're new, aren't you," she said. "You don't look very good. Did hit your head when you fell? Riley, show the boy where the nurse's office is."

"Oh, no, it won't be necessary," Adam said, hurriedly and nearly sprinted away, leaving the bewildered teacher and livid Riley behind. As he turned the corner, he ran smack into the goalie of the Varsity team. Adam swallowed another groan. This was it. The goalie looked strong. He and Riley would probably beat him up right here right now.

"Whoa, there, Adam, you're not being chased," Scooter said, steadying the other boy by the shoulders. Scooter looked past Adam to see a furious looking Riley walking towards them.

"Never mind," the goalie muttered. "Go, I'll keep him for now." Bewildered, Adam sprinted for the nurse's office. Maybe Scooter was trying to lull him into a false sense of security and Cole was actually waiting just around the next corner. Adam shook his head and mentally kicked himself because no, telling Riley what to do wasn't a good idea at all.

* * *

"So…you're breaking up with me?" Connie asked.

"Looks like it," Guy said, shrugging. He wasn't trying to be the complete son of a bitch he was kind of acting like but they've been friends for too long for Connie to really take it personally. That was just the way Guy was. He was kind of cold, unfeeling almost, and to be completely honest, if Guy hadn't jumped the gun and given her the long-winded monologue, she would have given pretty much the same one to Guy.

But that didn't mean that it still didn't feel like shit.

"Well…feels kind of weird, doesn't it?" Connie said. Guy stayed silent, staring intently in front of him, which was conveniently not into Connie's face. That was when she realized that Guy had chosen the time and place for this event carefully, sitting side by side on a bench in the quad, to avoid eye contact.

"Don't you want to know why?" Guy finally said.

"We're growing apart and it hurts but it's the truth."

"No."

"Wait, what?" Connie stared at Guy's profile and it looked like his expression was growing harder and more vulnerable at the same time.

"There was that one time, that party, at the end of eighth grade." Connie felt her stomach starting to drop with apprehension.

"I don't-" Guy cut her off.

"And you hooked up with Jesse." It had been the first night any of them really gotten drunk and Connie didn't even know what she was doing half the night, hooking up with Jesse falling under that half. Connie hated not having full control over her actions and hated herself for doing that, cheating on Guy, so much that she had hardly taken a _look_ at an alcoholic beverage sine then.

"I didn't mean to," she said.

"You know, Connie, I wouldn't have even cared if _you_ told me. Instead, you let everybody else find out around me and they all felt sorry for me for being the idiot that got cheated on."

"Because it didn't _mean_ anything, it was a stupid mistake. I was drunk," she said. Guy still refused to look at her.

"Even if it didn't mean anything, it still _happened_, Connie, and you know what? I don't think we're growing apart. I think you're pulling away from me because I still think that you're the only girl for me."

"Don't say that," Connie said. Now it was her turn to look straight ahead.

"And I'll still be the idiot that chases the girl who doesn't care about her anymore."

"You're the one breaking up with _me_," Connie reminded him. Guy stood up to leave and Connie grabbed at his hand. He looked at it for a second. Then he dropped her hand and left. Connie stared at his retreating back, wondering why it felt so harsh when it was really her fault anyway. She pulled her book bag over her shoulder and started the long walk back to her dorm, hoping that Julie might be there.

When Connie pushed the door open to her dorm, she found Julie digging through her backpack and closets, looking for something.

"Julie…" Her friend looked up and frowned at the expression on Connie's face, knowing that something was up.

"He broke up with me," Connie said. And suddenly, the situation hit her and she felt salty tears gather in the corners of her eyes. Fine, she had fucked up. Big time. But that didn't change the fact that now Guy was gone, she was starting to miss what she had taken for granted. Damn. Connie sat down on her bed and just let the tears fall, not realizing that Julie was staring at her with a strange expression.

"Sorry," Julie finally said. Connie looked up at her friend. Okay, Julie was kind of rough with her feelings like guys but she figured she'd get a more sympathetic response from her friend. Or, knowing Julie, maybe a suggestion to go egg Guy's (nonexistent) car or something.

"Julie," Connie started, uncertainly. Her voice was sounding kind of shaky and weird now that the tears started. "I just thought…he _broke up_ with me." Julie already knew about the Jesse incident so she was hoping her friend could piece two and two together and come sit next to her and give her the goddamn sympathy that she needed.

"Look Connie, breaking up with your boyfriend isn't the end of the world," Julie snapped. Connie stared at her friend in shock. Julie picked up her backpack.

"I'm going to the library," she said, shortly and left the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Connie stared at the closed door. Her head felt heavy but nowhere near as heavy as her heart. The world seemed to close in around her and she felt like a wooden doll.

Except dolls can't cry this much, right?

* * *

Julie felt a small shred of remorse at acting like such a bitch to Connie just two seconds earlier, but it was hard not to get pissed off when she was crying over something as trivial as a break-up, especially one that she kind of brought on herself. It was only a matter of time before someone slipped up and told Guy that Connie cheated on him. Still, they had been going out for a long time and despite what Connie had thought about "growing away from him," Julie still knew that Connie was head over heels for Guy. Well, as head over heels as a high-schooler can get. Well okay, maybe that's a lot, then.

Julie would have been more sympathetic. She would have been a good friend, the type that would have bought her ice cream and planned devious strategies to make Guy regret what his decision. She would have done all of that if her dad hadn't called just ten minutes before and told her that he and her mom were getting a divorce.

A divorce. A fucking divorce. Where had that come from? Last time she checked, _she_ was the one starting all the arguments in the house and Julie thought that boarding at Eden Hall would actually _save_ their damn marriage. Apparently not so. And when she heard that their parents are getting a divorce, it kind of put everything into perspective. And crying over a relationship was pretty damn pathetic.

Julie was pretty furious at her parents for dropping this on her during midterm week too. Now how was she supposed to study? Did they really think they could tell her and she could go back to being sunny, studious Julie? Did they really think she was made of reinforced metal like that? Are they really that damn stupid?

Julie absently reached into her backpack looking for something that wasn't there. She scowled. She made a mental note to e-mail her friend, telling him to send over some of his stuff pretty soon. She was so lost in thought that she ran smack into someone without realizing it, falling flat on her butt. As if the day wasn't shitty enough already.

"That's the second time today! What's with you Ducks?" said an unfamiliar voice. Julie glared up into the face of a mildly amused looking boy who looked vaguely familiar.

"Do I know you?" she asked, ignoring his hand and stood up.

"You're Julie right? Julie Gaffney?"

"So what?" She was still glaring at him, warily. These circumstances at home were really messing up her social skills. Julie felt a small part of her brain yell at her for being so bristly and acting like an ice-queen bitch.

"I'm Scooter," he said, easily. "I'm the goalie for the Varsity team. You're the goalie for the Ducks. I've seen you play; you're really good."

"Right." He was actually getting pretty excited.

"I saw that game between you and Iceland. That save was fantastic. I was really impressed; you have a really fast glove. Bombay really knew what he was doing." Julie just stared at him. She really didn't have time for this.

"I was thinking if you wanted to hang out sometime, grab a soda and talk," Scooter offered.

"I have a lot of things on my mind right now so maybe when I'm not feeling like I want to give everyone around me a fucking lobotomy, I'll consider," she said. To her surprise, Scooter actually laughed. As she walked away, he called after her, "Anytime, just tell me when you're free."

* * *

A/N: Whoops, I'm neglecting the other Ducks. Don't worry; they'll all have their chance at the spotlight. 


End file.
